Demeco Ryans - Head Coach, texans Event: Press Conference | Date: 2026-09-16 | Full transcript (primary source).
Demeco Ryans addressed the media during a press conference on September 16, 2026, as the Houston Texans prepared for their upcoming game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The discussion focused on the challenges posed by the Bengals' potent offense, led by quarterback Joe Burrow and star receivers T. Higgins and Jamar Chase.
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Transcript
Ryans: When it comes to the tandem that these guys have with Jason Higgins, do you think he's similar to this in the past? And what are some good ways to approach when they have two receivers of this counter? The Bengals are really exceptional offense. It starts all, everything starts and goes through the quarterback. Talk about a guy has exceptional talent. Joe Burrow, he's one of the best quarterbacks I've watched and studied. From the standpoint of his accuracy, ball placement, their horizontal spacing as an offense and how he's able to really throw the ball around wherever he wants to. He can place the ball on the sideline, on the wherever he wants to put it, he'll put it there and then you add in the receiving threats that he has, right? And T Higgins, Jamar Chase, I mean, ultra talented guys. They're both explosive guys. They can beat you down the field. They can beat you on any routes. So you gotta be tight on the coverage. You gotta challenge the throws when it's there. It doesn't matter if you are playing tight coverage. Joe can still fit the ball in there. So have our hands full this week. This is every week, but it's just a fun offense to watch. These guys are very detailed in what they do. Zach Taylor's done a phenomenal job with these guys and their team looks great from the first week.
Ryans: You lost Henry for a while. You lost Henry for a while and now you're gonna play some linebackers who haven't had a lot of game time experience, someone who has played that position. What are some of the things that you have to do to be prepared to step into that role and continue going? Losing Henry was a big one for us. He'll miss a few weeks here and that's a big loss for us. Henry's did a great job of this guy. I always trust a guy I can count on to be in the right spots at the right time. Guys are stepping into that role. We just ask guys, go do your job, do it to the best of your ability. And that's for everybody on our defense. That's all I ask you guys is be where you're supposed to be. Do what you're supposed to do and we'll be just fine.
Ryans: I believe that the last couple of plays really affected Kamari Lesser. Like he was down about it. How have you seen him maybe respond in these first couple of days as well? Kamari is bouncing around with normal with this same energy he's always had and he's back to work. I think just the competitor that Kamari is, you see, for me, when you see that you see how much he cares. And you see how much it means to him. So that's any type of player, I want that type of passion. I want that type of heart and a desire to go out and finish for your teammates. And that's what I saw from Kamari. That's who he's always been. So I love the competitor that Kamari is and he's ready to work. He had a great day today.
Ryans: One thing that was noticed in that game against Tampa was the pass protection for since that he's offensive line. What have you seen in the growth from Lesser this year? With the offensive line and the pass protection, I think it still goes back to the quarterback. When he wants to get the ball out, he can beat any pressure he can beat it with how he can speed up the ball and get it out. So and he's also has the ability to also escape the pocket. He's athletic, doesn't get really noted for his athleticism. But Joe is the athletic quarterback, so he can also escape the pocket and still make throws while on the run. So you got to stay after it with the rush. We will try our best to get there. Big offensive linemen, guys play really well together. It's gonna be a challenge up front.
Ryans: To fill Henry's position, are you expecting just one guy or to maybe rotate a couple of guys in and see who's the best fit next to his team? Yeah, whoever is up, we'll put him out there and we'll roll.
Ryans: Who's first off that day? Me.
Ryans: J.D. Clowney, do you expect him to practice in this year? Yeah, we'll see how he goes. He's just day to day. So we'll see how he progresses tomorrow, should be out there.
Ryans: Chase Brown, allow them to do in the offense. The wide receivers get a lot of love, he seems to be pretty darn good too. Yeah, great question, man. Chase Brown, that's the guy who is, he doesn't get talked about enough, right? Because he kind of gets overshadowed by these exceptional wide receivers and exceptional quarterback. But Chase Brown is one of the most explosive backs I've watched, right? He gets the football, he's going downhill, he can create explosives, running the football, also him in the passing game. When you do protect the explosive, you take the ball down to Chase, and he's an exceptional player also with the ball in his hands, just the speed, physicality, he's not shying away from contact. So Chase is a really great player.
Ryans: I'm sure. CJ completed passes to 11 different players on Sunday. How valuable is it when so many guys are getting involved in the offense and he's spraying the ball around like that? It's very valuable for us when CJ can spray the ball around. It just shows that trust that he has in everyone who's, and he's just going through his progression and making the proper read, making a great decision. And it doesn't matter what jersey number it is, what name is on the back of the jersey. He's just throwing the ball to where the defense dictates for him to throw the ball. And that's great quarterback play by him. He's doing everything we're asking him to do. And I think that right there is a great sign that's indicative of, it doesn't matter who it is, I'm gonna spread the ball around. Not trying to spread around, I'm just playing the offense on rhythm in the right proper timing, the proper cadence, and I'm getting the ball to where it should go in all the particular place. So that's a credit to CJ and to see his growth. He had a really, did a really great job again this past Sunday, and we're looking to continue to build on that.
Ryans: What do you see as the defense? Their defense has been an emphasis kind of for them to take the next step. What are you seeing from their defense after one week? At Cincinnati's defense, you put the tape on and you see an improved defense. These guys are flying around, and it starts with the front, right? For them, adding Dexter Lawrence, adding Jonathan Allen, they are stout on the interior, their defense alignment. It's gonna be hard to move those guys, but everything is gonna start with the front. We have to try to control their front. These guys make plays, they are relentless. They stay after it, even the edge players, all right? With Murphy and Mafey, these guys stay after it as they're rushing. So it's gonna be a challenge for us up front. We have to try to outwork them. We have to try to finish them because these guys are aggressive. They are finishing through the whistle. And then the thing that jumps off the tape is how they've attacked the football. All right, they got four takeaways against Tampa Bay. Really giving the offense a short field to work with it, and the offense goes out and puts up points off of it. So they play really good complementary football. The defense is well improved. The corners are good, safeties are good. The two inside backers, they are playing fast. They're playing physical downhill. So, Algona's done a really good job with this defense.
Ryans: I'm sure you've seen the comments by Dre. Were you surprised to see what public like that? Do you agree with his assessment for a guy that's around the team all the time? And CJ's also talked about in the past, he doesn't love his body language and he wants to get better. What kind of conversations have you had with CJ and how do you think he did something? I don't know what comments you're talking about. I've been studying Cincinnati and going to sleep. Talk to Andre, talk to Andre about it.
Ryans: You have talked about the offensive line and how it's your reason to work with your saying from them. Can you talk about what you're saying from Blake Fisher and if you're continuing to see him improve from training camp? For sure, Blake is, he's definitely improved throughout training camp. He's done a really good job of, I see a guy just staying out there really training to finish, that's what I see in training camp. And I see that also in the games he had in the preseason. So he's steadily improved. He's ready to go, we use him as an extra alignment when we have an opportunity to do that and if an opportunity presents itself and he has to go in as that next tackle in the game. I know Blake is going to go in there and do a really good job.
Ryans: Coach, you've talked about the Cincinnati Bengals offensive line and that's going to be a challenge for you guys this afternoon and Sunday. The talk of time has been the edge, Russia's kind of having a quiet day coming out of Sunday. But what are the expectations from your deep tackle group going into this Sunday to kind of help create some more disruption? The expectation for us defensively is for everybody to improve. Last Sunday wasn't good enough, not from any one position. So we play collectively as a defensive, we play together and everybody's doing their job, being what they're supposed to be doing what they're supposed to do, we play really good defensive football. So not just as Russia's linebackers, D tackles, corners, say everybody has to pick their game up and we got to play better.
Ryans: Coach, we talked about the linebackers earlier and about the linebacker depth. How good is it to have a player like Aziz Alshair here on the field, being able to help those young linebackers get to where they need to be? Aziz is the coach, all right, he's on the field, he's coaching them up, man. So there's anybody who knows what we're expecting and what those guys should do, anybody who steps into that road next to Aziz, right, they're going to have a guy they can lean on. Aziz is going to communicate really well to those guys who've been out there, and that's who he is, right, he's going to help the man next to him. And I don't expect anything different, so it's a benefit for those far young guys to have Aziz in their room and the knowledge that he's able to share with those guys. So if something happens in a game, a formation or anything, you know, with their film study and everything that he does, Aziz will be able to get those guys up to speed, caught up on the same. So they're on the same page, guys will communicate really well. It's a pleasure to have Aziz, and we need it most now. We lost two of our starters now, EJ and Henry, so it's going to be big shoes to fill for the next man that steps into that road.
Ryans: All right, thank you guys.
